WhatsApp reaches 100 million monthly users in the US, but there’s a new challenge ahead

A recent report revealed that WhatsApp adoption in the US is growing, especially as users look for a better way to chat between iOS and Android devices. Meta has now confirmed that WhatsApp has reached 100 million monthly users in the US – but the company has a huge challenge ahead to keep this number growing.

100 million people use WhatsApp every month in the US

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday (via The Verge) that WhatsApp now has 100 million monthly active users in the US. The company says the app has become notably popular in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Seattle. Interestingly, this is the first time Meta has released more specific data about WhatsApp in the US.

“This is the first time data pertaining to users has been released since Meta’s acquisition of the messaging app and demonstrates how the messaging platform, already the biggest messaging app in the world, has experienced tremendous growth in the U.S.,” WhatsApp spokesperson Ashley O’Reilly wrote in a press release.

Meta acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for $16 billion, and the app is very popular in countries like Brazil and India, pretty much dominating these markets on its own. However, despite Meta’s efforts, WhatsApp has never been a hit in the US due to the popularity of iMessage and SMS.

But because iPhone users have a hard time communicating with Android users via the Messages app, more people in the US are downloading WhatsApp to experience things like better group chats, rich text formatting, and high-resolution media. However, Meta may soon have to change its strategy.

But there’s RCS coming to the iPhone…

With iOS 18, Apple is finally enabling RCS support for iPhone users. With RCS, iPhone users can send rich messages with audio and larger media files to Android users. RCS also has read receipts, something that was previously exclusive to iMessage and other instant messaging apps.

Once RCS becomes available to the public with the release of iOS 18 this fall, iPhone users in the US may no longer have a strong reason to download WhatsApp. Of course, Meta’s platform still has other cards up its sleeve, such as its own payment platform and a way to share files offline between iOS and Android – but most users should be fine with RCS.

What about you? Do you use WhatsApp regularly or have you downloaded the app recently? Let us know in the comments section below.